1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates primarily to a handheld ultrasound instrument having various diagnostic modes and detachable modules. Also included is a means for manufacturer to strictly control the operational capabilities of the handheld ultrasound instrument after the instrument has entered the stream of commerce.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern ultrasound instruments generally fall into two classes of devices. Devices designed for diagnostic scans are utilized in hospitals and clinics and tend to be large, immobile devices. These devices require constant power such as from a 120 w or 220 w outlet. While some systems are arguably portable (being movable on a cart), they still rely on an external power source, and are limited by their ability to be transported easily. High end ultrasound systems are made with a large variety of operational features such as basic B mode and M modes scanning, as well as 2D and 3D Doppler imaging. Spectral analysis is a feature, usually implemented in software allowing more complete and accurate diagnostic examinations. Examples of spectral analysis techniques can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,366 (Weng) and 5,935,074 (Mo)—these methods require high processing power associated with real time spectral analysis.
Another aspect of high-end systems is they are afforded by their manufactures with an architecture capable of alteration. Either with the replacement of a system board, or the addition of specialized software, analysis, imaging, processing and data manipulation can be enhanced or improved during the life of the system.
A second class of ultrasound devices, relatively new in the field of medical ultrasound, are systems designed for handheld use. Systems on this type range in a wide variety of capabilities including those having single transducer pen elements that produce data in the form of sound waves or simple alphanumeric displays to devices using array transducers and having some what more complex displays in the form of an LCD device either in a specialized module (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,073 (Imran et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,608 (Kemme et al.) or displays in laptop computers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,442 to Chiang et al.). For the most part, the miniaturization of ultrasound devices to create a handheld device has come at the cost of features found in high-end systems (such as combined 2D/3D Doppler with spectral analysis). Furthermore, handheld systems lack the upgrade path of larger systems during the life of the product, limiting a user to the purchase of new products in the handheld ultrasound market in order to obtain new capabilities.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a handheld ultrasound device with a wide array of ultrasound scan modes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a handheld ultrasound device with a pulse wave (PW) scan mode.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a handheld ultrasound device with a continuous wave (CW) scan mode.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an ECG measurement tool for the augmentation of a Doppler ultrasound scan.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a handheld ultrasound device with the capability for performing spectral analysis on a Doppler image.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for the update of a handheld ultrasound device, such that accurate data can be maintained about the updates for the handheld ultrasound device.